


Keep It

by memoriesaremine



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, StarKid Productions RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greasers, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Violence, Threats of Violence, anyway, ethan green is a good big brother, have fun with this, lex and noel are sisters, maybe the biggest brain, nothing too bad tho, that leather jacket is also made of boyfriend material, this is big brain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:35:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25366954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memoriesaremine/pseuds/memoriesaremine
Summary: After Noel Michaels (@justasidekick OC) gets into a scuffle with some of the local kids, who's there to save the day but Ethan Green and it might be the start of a new chapter for Noel, Ethan, and Lex.
Relationships: Ethan Green & Original Female Character(s), Lex Foster & Original Female Character(s), Lex Foster/Ethan Green
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Keep It

**Author's Note:**

> Just like everything else I write, this is a collab with @justasidekick
> 
> ALSO ALSO ALSO 
> 
> Noel is @justasidekick's OC and has nothing to do with the Noelle from Black Friday. They are two Separate People

Ethan didn’t think he’d actually have to keep people from pummelling a little girl’s face in, but he never knew what was going to happen in their neighborhood. It was a rougher place, definitely. It startled him at first. From what he could see on the girl, she was tiny and not much older than ten.

He looked at the kids who had the girl surrounded, coming around the corner. He was intimidating to look at, 6 feet. He had at least 6 inches on all of the girl’s harassers, add to that his leather jacket and his bad reputation, and people knew to get out of his way. 

“Please go away,” The girl begged the kids around her. “I didn’t do nothing! That ain’t me you’re looking for!” 

“Well, I think it is, little lady,” one of the boys replied, getting in her face. “Because your uncle put my buddy in the slammer, and we ain’t about to rough him up, now are we?” 

“Go away!” The girl tried to push the boy away. She didn’t move fast enough and the boy grabbed her arms, pushing her backwards. She stumbled and fell.

“Hey!” Ethan called, coming up to them. “Leave her alone. Go pick on someone your own size, jackass.” A few of the boys skittered away at the sight of Ethan, but the one that’d pushed the girl stayed. He could see her now. She was tiny with brown curly hair and he swore he’d seen her out in the schoolyard before.

“What’s up, Green,” the boy said, getting right in Ethan’s face. “You looking out for this slut, now? Ain’t she a little young for you?” 

“Lay off her, she didn’t do nothing wrong,” He said. “She ain’t her uncle or whatever. She’s a little kid.”

“I ain’t a little kid,” The girl protested. 

“If she ain’t a little kid, then she can take it,” The boy replied.

Ethan gave the girl a bit of an exasperated look that said can it, please, I’m trying to help you here. 

“You’re a coward to beat on a little girl like that,” Ethan said. “And I don’t like cowards.” 

The girl, in a burst of confidence, landed a kick to the boy’s side. The boy grunted and stumbled away, far enough to let her up and Ethan caught her hands shaking, either from fear or adrenaline, he couldn’t tell.

Ethan turned to the kid, who limped away, glaring and muttering something under his breath. He sighed with relief and turned to the girl. 

“You alright?” He asked. 

“Yes, sir,” She said quietly. “I’m alright.”

“You oughta be careful,” Ethan said. “This neighborhood’s rough. Little girl like you shouldn’t be walking around by herself.” 

“I live on Cleveland,” She murmured. “My big sister’s at work and I was just goin’ to get a soda to bring her.”

“Still, ain’t safe ‘round here, whether you live here or not,” Ethan said. “C’mon, I’ll walk with you. Make sure Wilbur and his boys don’t bother you again.” 

“Thank you, sir,” She said softly.

“I’m Ethan,” Ethan said. “I live a couple blocks down from here. What’s your name, kiddo?” 

“Noel,” She looked at him. “They were right, though, ‘bout my uncle. He did put one of ‘em in the slammer.”

“Well that ain’t your fault,” Ethan said. “I’m no fan of him either, but I ain’t about to beat on a little girl for it.” He led her up the street towards the five and dime. 

“I didn’t know they’d come,” Noel rubbed her arms. She wore no jacket with a too-big shirt and pants.

“You cold, kiddo?” Ethan asked, taking off his leather jacket. He could handle it. He gave it to Noel, who tried to refuse it, but he pressed it on her more insistently. She winced a bit when he touched her shoulder. He pulled away quickly. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have-” 

“It’s alright,” She said quickly, taking the jacket and putting it on. It practically swamped her. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Ethan said. “Can’t have you freezing to death. It’s cold out here.” 

“Lexie hasn’t outgrown her jacket yet,” She replied. “I don’t got one until she can’t fit in hers.”

“You can keep that one, then,” Ethan said, before he could even think about it. “I just got a new one.” This was a lie, he almost had enough for a new jacket, but it’d be another week or two. But he didn’t want this little girl to be cold. 

“Really?” She asked, her eyes wide.

“Too cold to be without a jacket, especially a skinny thing like you,” Ethan said. “You’ll freeze before you can get halfway across town.” She nodded, putting her hands in the pockets. A lighter was clutched in her other hand, which did surprise him a little bit. “How old are you, kid?”

“Twelve, I’ll be thirteen on Christmas,” She replied slowly, the ‘slut’ comment probably sticking to the forefront of her mind. “Lexie’s fourteen, she’s gonna be fifteen in July.”

“You shouldn’t listen to what they say about you, kid,” Ethan said. “They’re just worked up.” She opened the door to the store and looked in her pants pocket. Her lip began to tremble when she came up empty-handed. She must’ve had money to buy her sister a soda that got taken.

“I gotcha, Noel,” Ethan said gently. “For you and your sister.” 

“You don’t gotta get me one, just one for Lexie,” She wiped at her eyes and he grabbed two bottles.

“You look like you need one too,” Ethan said, handing the girl behind the counter the last of his cash. “Where’s your sister workin’?”

“Toy Zone,” Noel said, as he handed her her Coke. “The store downtown. I can walk, it ain’t far. Thanks for the Coke.” 

“I’ll walk with you,” He said, “The boys might be waitin’ to get you again and I don’t think your sister would like to patch you up afterwards.” He began to walk to downtown with her, sharing the Coke since she refused to drink it all on her own. She flicked her lighter a handful of times, no cigarettes on her.

“You don’t smoke, do you?” Ethan asked. 

“Not unless Lexie has some,” She said. “Which ain’t very often.”

“You’re too young to smoke,” Ethan said. “It’s a nasty habit.” 

“We don’t smoke a lot, only when Lexie can get cigarettes,” She said. “I just like my lighter.”

“It’s a nice lighter,” Ethan said. He really didn’t know how to talk to kids. His daily interactions included teachers who hated him, the three people he smoked with, and his Dad, if he was sober enough to beat Ethan for whatever he had done this time to piss him off. Luckily for him, it made Noel smile. 

“Lexie got it for me,” She said with a smile. She talked a lot about her older sister. He wondered if her older sister was the only one who really cared about her, and that was why. If he had people who cared about him, they’d be all he talked about too. She opened the door to Toy Zone and looked around for her sister.

“Is Lexie here?” She asked the man at the counter quietly, standing on her tip-toes. “I’m lookin’ for her.”

“She’s workin, girl,” The man said. “I ain’t about to pay her to stand around and chit chat.” 

“I came to bring my big sister a Coke, that’s all, sir.” She raised her voice a bit. Ethan already didn’t like this guy. 

“Ellie?” Lex said, coming out from behind the shelves. “I don’t get off until four.”

“If you want to chat with these two, Michaels, then you gotta go on break.” The man turned to her. 

“Fine,” Lex said, glaring at him. “I’ll be back in fifteen. Have fun running the shop by yourself.” She stomped over to the time clock and aggressively punched out, and Ethan could swear he heard her mutter ‘fucker’ under her breath. He decided he liked her already. Lex took her sister’s arm gently and walked her outside, Ethan following.

“What’s wrong? You don’t come to work unless somethin’ happened. Did he hit you ‘round again?” She asked, getting down to Noel’s level. 

“Nah,” Noel said. “I came to bring you a Coke, and then on the way, some of those kids who Uncle Sam locked up came lookin’ to rough me up, but he scared them off.” She jabbed her thumb at Ethan. “They took my money, but he bought the Cokes.” She looked down at her feet, probably some form of embarrassment taking over. “Sorry for comin’ to work and makin’ Frank mad again.”

“It wasn’t nothin,” Ethan said, trying to keep his composure around the pretty girl, something he was not known for. Lex smiled up at him and he almost forgot how to breathe for a second. 

“Thank you for helpin’ Ellie,” She said. “She’s too little to be walkin’ on her own, no matter what she says.”

“That’s what I told her,” Ethan said with a smile back. 

“I ain’t too little!” Noel protested. “I’m gonna be thirteen in two months!”

“Thirteen’s little, Noel,” Ethan said, turning to her. 

“No, it ain’t,” She whined. “Lexie, it ain’t little! Tell him!” 

“I’m with….” Lex looked over at him. “What’s your name?” 

“Ethan,” Ethan replied. 

“I’m with Ethan on this one,” Lex said with a smirk. “Sorry, Ellie.” 

“You’re a bitch,” Noel crossed her arms.

“What’d I say about repeating Uncle Sam?” Lex scolded.

“I was repeatin’ you,” Noel said with a giggle. 

“What did I say about repeatin’ me?” She poked her side. Noel giggled and squirmed away. 

Ethan laughed. He’d never seen a family like this before, and his wasn’t much to go on. 

“How’s your shoulder?” Lex asked. “Still hurtin’? We can ice it again tonight if you need it. The liquor’s still frozen, I think.”

“Nah,” Noel said. “I’m alright. And Auntie Char took it out before I left, anyhow. Think she was just gonna bash it, truth be told. Desperate for a little liquor.” 

“I’m happy you left then,” Lex ruffled her hair. “I don’t like it when you’re there when she drinks.” There was the part he was missing then. Their house must not have been good. Join the club, Lex and Noel. “I’ll be back at four, alright? Go see Danny.”

“I’ll bring her,” Ethan volunteered. “I know where he lives.”

“Thought I recognized you,” Lex said with a smile at him. “You hang with Deb and Danny up on the roof sometimes.” 

“Yeah,” Ethan said. 

“Ellie, go drink your coke for a second,” Lex said. “Over there.” 

“Okay,” She nodded, taking the Coke and sitting on the bench without an argument. She flicked the lighter while she drank, leaning back. 

“Seriously,” Lex said, turning to Ethan. “Thanks for what you did.” 

“It wasn’t a problem,” He said. “She’s a little kid. Little kids shouldn’t be in that stuff. They would’ve roughed her up pretty badly if I didn’t do anythin’.”

“You coulda been roughed up pretty bad yourself,” Lex said. “And you bought us Cokes. It was a sweet thing to do.” 

“She got all upset, I couldn’t let her cry,” He replied. “It’s nothin’, really.”

“That money was meant for her to get somethin’ to eat, she ahsn’t eaten in...Lord knows how long,” Lex shook her head.

“I’ll get her somethin,” Ethan said. How he was going to do that, he wasn’t sure, but he would. 

“She’s alright,” Lex said. “Our uncle gets groceries tonight. We’ll have somethin’.”

“You sure?” Ethan asked. 

“Yeah,” Lex nodded. She was looking at Noel. “The boys didn’t get her, right?”

“Just pushed her down,” Ethan said. “I got into it before they could do anythin’ else.” 

“Where’s that jacket from?” Lex squinted. “She don’t got one.”

“It’s mine,” Ethan said. “I just got another. It ain’t nothin.” 

“You sure?” She asked, looking over at him. 

“I’m sure,” He said. “I’ll walk her on down to Danny’s, alright? But ain’t she supposed to be in school right now?”

“She don’t do too well in school,” Lex admitted. “And Uncle Sam can’t pick her up. Auntie Char’s too drunk, and I’m workin. She’ll be stuck there for hours. She goes when she can. She wants to be a teacher someday, that’s what she’s said, but I don’t know what school’ll take her, with the grades she’s got.” Lex sounded too much like a mother than she did an older sister. “I oughta be gettin’ back.”

“I’ll walk her,” Ethan promised. “I’ll get her to Danny’s safe, I promise.” 

“You’re alright, Ethan,” Lex said with a smile, nudging his shoulder. “See you around.” 

“See you around,” He nodded and went back to Noel. “Lex said you can go to Danny’s. I’ll walk you down.” He said and she hopped up, giving Lex a long hug.

“Bye, Lexie,” She squeezed her close. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Ellie,” Lex said, kissing the top of her head. “See you in a bit.” 

“See you,” Noel echoed. “Can I keep the jacket?” She asked her quietly, as if she was checking with her sister.

“Yeah,” Ethan said. “Keep it, kid.”

The smile on Noel’s face didn’t leave even when Lex turned away and headed back into Toy Zone. Ethan led her down to Danny’s, who she knew well.

“You met her sister then?” Danny asked as Noel ducked inside behind him.

“Yeah,” Ethan nodded. “She seems nice.”

“Only to Ellie, and maybe to you if you can get with her,” Danny grinned, “See you, Ethan.”

Ethan didn’t deny that he kind of liked Lex already. He really didn’t. She seemed alright, like someone he could get along with.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed kat and my kinda big brain idea. If you want to see more we have two google documents of it. a lot of it is kind of sad but also cute 
> 
> anyway shameless self-promo time
> 
> My tumblr: @thegalwhoreallylikesmusicals  
> Kat's Tumblr: @just-a-side-kick


End file.
